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what makes the 99' xj better than the 97-98 xj's

J

Jeep nasty

NAXJA Forum User
What makes the 99' XJ better than 97-98 xj's

i'm still on my quest to get a great deal on a newer style XJ and from other forums and others info i'm told that 99 was one of the best years, i'm just curious as to what upgrades were made to the 99's that make them superior to the 97-98's i.e. drivetrain upgrades, fixes or additional features.

also is the a website where i can find out all the options availibles for the different years of XJ's so i know what to look for when shopping the used maket. somthing that states all the stats on the xj's.

or does anyone know how to decode the VIN for 97-99 cherokee because i'll ask the owners for it before i go to see it so i know exactaly what is in it and so i'm not going off the owners guess for those that dont know about the differences in there vehicles.
thanks for any help :)
 
VIN decoder

'84-'86 didn't come with the 4.0 at all, engine bay needs mods to use a 4.0

'87-'90 had the option of the 2.5-4banger, 2.8 v6 and 4.0 NON-HO, AW-4 for the 4.0 had different input gear, and is stronger then the other ones used on weaker blocks

'91 is start year for the HO motor

'94 is last year made with out the air bag

'95 is the last year the 7120 heads were used, better flow exhaust ports

'96 switched to the OBDII, new head, intank FPR and single fuel line (no return), went from 39# FPR to an adjustable 49# FPR, longer output shaft on the x-case and requires a short shaft SYE kit to lift above stock, girdle on main caps interduce or maybe in '97

'99 changed the intake manifold, but the 4.0 block on the '99 up GC has the longer runners, and have to remove stock ABS to use in an XJ.

'01 last year of XJ.

If I missed anything, sorry.
 
great info, thanks for the VIN decoder.
heres another question; Are the 4.0 in the XJ's the same motor that are in the tj. I only ask because i have a spare 4.0 engine out of a 97 TJ with only 3500 mi. on it and was wondering if i could use it for the XJ also as long as it was being put in a later style xj with the same setup ie distributor style engine.

thanks again, i really appriciate the help.
 
john swann said:
I believe 98 was last year for distributor. 99 and up has individual coils on the plugs
Click to expand...


Nope 2000 was the Coil on plug...

My '99 has regular plugs and wires.
 
anyone have some opinions on the benifits of a distributorless enging
besides not having to waterproof the distributor.

also anyone have so tip on waterproofing the distributor


BTW: TOZOVR i never had a chance to really thank you for the RE lift on my TJ after i picked it up from you, i'm sure kruger has shown you some pics since i had gotten it on though. so thanks for the help getting the kit.
 
Jeep nasty said:
anyone have some opinions on the benifits of a distributorless enging
besides not having to waterproof the distributor.

also anyone have so tip on waterproofing the distributor


BTW: TOZOVR i never had a chance to really thank you for the RE lift on my TJ after i picked it up from you, i'm sure kruger has shown you some pics since i had gotten it on though. so thanks for the help getting the kit.
Click to expand...

I heard you get the full spark from the coils from being in contact directly to the plugs, so no middleman via spark plug wires to rob you of power, and you save money and time not to worry about replacing wires
 
dogtired said:
I heard you get the full spark from the coils from being in contact directly to the plugs, so no middleman via spark plug wires to rob you of power, and you save money and time not to worry about replacing wires
Click to expand...

The newer ignition coil also fires the spark plug twice vs. the older set up, during a normal intake/exhaust stroke. Timeline wise, starting in late 99, some XJ's were coming from the factory with the newer ignition and then obviously all 00-01's had it. Pretty robust set up, once again the Jeep engineers knew what they were doing. No recalls/problems to date with the newer style. I like it. :us:
 
No worries man!! Sorry to hear about the Disco though!!!

Really wishing you still had those 33" TSL's for sale now!!!!!


RJ


Jeep nasty said:
anyone have some opinions on the benifits of a distributorless enging
besides not having to waterproof the distributor.

also anyone have so tip on waterproofing the distributor


BTW: TOZOVR i never had a chance to really thank you for the RE lift on my TJ after i picked it up from you, i'm sure kruger has shown you some pics since i had gotten it on though. so thanks for the help getting the kit.
Click to expand...
 
XJ Saga said:
The newer ignition coil also fires the spark plug twice vs. the older set up, during a normal intake/exhaust stroke. Timeline wise, starting in late 99, some XJ's were coming from the factory with the newer ignition and then obviously all 00-01's had it. Pretty robust set up, once again the Jeep engineers knew what they were doing. No recalls/problems to date with the newer style. I like it. :us:
Click to expand...


didn't know that they fired it twice, i guess thay burn a bit more efficient as well as increase hp's :laugh3:
 
dogtired said:
didn't know that they fired it twice, i guess thay burn a bit more efficient as well as increase hp's :laugh3:
Click to expand...


Same HP as far as I know....
 
dogtired said:
oh... do they fire the spark in the exhaust stroke to get at the remaining gas that would be otherwise wasted?

what year is yers? :)
Click to expand...

Mine is a '99...
 
TOZOVR said:
No worries man!! Sorry to hear about the Disco though!!!

Really wishing you still had those 33" TSL's for sale now!!!!!


RJ
Click to expand...

Funny thing about the disco is i had only made 1 payment on before totaling it, so it ended up being the nicest and cheapest "rental" car ive ever had. ( 2months in a 98 Landrover discovery for only 400 bucks)

looking back int retrospect, i think it was best that it happened, i think i may have been a lemon. With in the first week o f buyiung it form bournival i had several problems like the o2 sensor blowing on the drive home from the dealership. and bournival wasnt going to pay for it. The sevrice guy siad "the manager said he'd split part and labor with you 50/50, but if you try to push it and ask for more he pay for any of it." So after that was said i was like Hell no i'm definitly talkign to him now, don't try to scare me out of going after what you guys should be paying for anyway.

well anyway they paid for it but several problems went wrong in 3 days of buying it so i learned a couple lessons, don't deal with bournival, and land rover parts are freaking expensive.( almost $500 dollars for an o2 sensor)
 
Hmmm, couldn't remember for sure TOZOVR, whether it was a 99 I almost bought in 2000 or a 2000 I almost bought in 01. At any rate, I have driven both the distributor and the coil on plug setup. Coil on plug seems to have a smoother power delivery through the r's n gears.
 
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all i can add to the original post.... remember him?? although the XJ wasn't toatally new vehicle in 97, there were several completely redesigned systems... as a rule-of-thumb i avoid the first 2 model years of anything after a design change of any kind.... it gives them 2 years to work out the squeeks and bugs of new systems... and as stated there were some significant changes in 2000... another one i know of was the transmision mount for the 2000 and newer is offset to one side by a full inch for some reason.. i learned this when helping a friend install an ORGS cross member/skid plate... his t/case shifter was bound up and would not give him any 4WD.... a swap to a 99 trany mount which is centered (rather than offest) cured the problem... they sure spent a bit of $$ on the XJ just to kill it in the US... i'd love to just get a close lok at one of those ones on the ASIAN market....
mike

and to correct the info given earlier.... 1986 was the LAST year for the V6 engine... 1987 was available with only the 2.5 I-4 and the 4.0L I-6....
 
Jeep nasty said:
Are the 4.0 in the XJ's the same motor that are in the tj?
Click to expand...
Yes, to cut down the HP/TQ rating for the YJ, TJ, and XJ, Jeep inserted a venturi in the air box to reduce the output of the motor by 10 HP, as far as I understand, the GC did not come with the down rated motor (venturi) due to the weight of the GC. :passgas:

There is harness differences, and ECU differences, but not related directly to power output.
 
ummm if the 99's are better... what about the 2000 and 2001 models? are they freakin chopped liver??? :laugh3: don't tell me that my 2000 4.0L XJ sux ;)

BTW, I couldn't wait for 2 model years after they changed the last two model years to distributorless design... because it was the LAST 2 model years! :laugh3:

So the last 2 model years are the "cream of the crop" after 16 years of the XJ, they had plenty of practice to make it right... I wish they reinstate the XJ back again, its too bad they had to retire it. Couldn't they improve the platform, like fix the unibody design to become more stiffer and the like? I like the boxy design, it made it unique and tough looking... in other words it looked "manly" :) , and they had to screw it up with the Liberty :mad: ! It looks like one of those jellybean SUV's... I think I wanna puke. The Grand Cherokee was ok, but I am not impressed. After 30 years... they completely redesigned the Mustang, and still called it the Mustang. Hmmmmpgh! :( Why can't they do the same with the Cherokee???

I think the volkwagon beetle had the longer shelf life... right?
 
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